By Abdelraouf Arnaout
JERUSALEM (AA) - Israel will reopen the Kerem Shalom commercial crossing with the Gaza Strip to inspect trucks loaded with humanitarian aid to the blockaded Palestinian territory, according to local media on Thursday.
The Times of Israel newspaper, citing a senior official, said the move aims to facilitate the entry of aid trucks into the Gaza Strip.
While the trucks will be inspected at the terminal, they will still need to enter the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.
Aid trucks entering Gaza are currently being inspected by Israel at the smaller Nitzana crossing between Israel and Egypt before they are allowed into Rafah.
“Israel is capable of facilitating the entry of up to 250 aid trucks each day through Egypt’s Rafah Crossing into Gaza,” said Col. Elad Goren, from Israel’s COGAT military liaison to the Palestinians.
The Kerem Shalom crossing, also called Karm Abu Salem by the Palestinians, is Gaza’s only commercial crossing. More than 60% of aid to Gaza used to go through the terminal before the outbreak of the current conflict.
Israel resumed its military offensive on the Gaza Strip Dec. 1 after the end of a weeklong humanitarian pause with the Palestinian group Hamas.
At least 17,177 Palestinians have been killed and more than 46,000 others injured in relentless air and ground attacks on the enclave since Oct. 7 following a cross-border attack by Hamas.
The Israeli death toll in the Hamas attack stood at 1,200, according to official figures.
*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara